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This makes me crazy. I frequently seem to end up directly behind someone who is doing fine until they go to pass a semi, and then they chicken out and ride in the driver's blind spot right where the trailer hooks to the cab. So I am stuck behind them, also in the blind spot and right next to the first set of trailer wheels, terrified I'm going to be road pizza. To make matters worse the guy behind me starts creeping up on me trying to make me go faster. Hello, I drive a tiny two-seat convertible! Can you not see the car in front of me? Argh!
I had something really crazy happen a few months back.
I was on a side street on which the speed limit was 30mph. Most people driving that stretch go between 32-36 MPH.
I was behind this red sports car - the type with the logos removed from the back and super dark tinted windows. The light turned green and we began driving onto this road.
I expected the guy to gradually accelerate up to at least 30MPH, if not a bit over.
Instead, he gradually slowed down to below 25 MPH. And then even a bit lower. There was no one in front of him at all. He proceeded to do this for over a mile.
To this day I have no idea what he was doing. I can only think that he was being intentionally passive aggressive. There was no reason to be going 20 MPH on that road. It was a bright sunny day, with no other cars anywhere in sight.
Why would someone want to do this?? If he wasn't doing it purposefully the only other guess I have is that he was texting.
Could have been lost/looking for a particular address or they could have been window shopping for things to steal. Another option is they were dealers looking for buyer.
A few weeks ago, I was driving on a 2 lane road with a 35 mph speed limit, and I was going about 40-42. I had some middle aged woman about 2 inches from my bumper this whole time. The stop light onto a 4 lane road was red and I wanted to turn left, so I signaled and stopped. She also was turning left. The left turn lane was left turn on green arrow only, so I could not turn, since I had the red arrow. She proceeded to lay on her horn and flash her head lights on and off at me while I was waiting for the light to change (and traffic was zipping by on the cross street, so even if I had wanted to run the red arrow light, I could not have, as I would have gotten slammed from both directions). Once the light changed, I turned, and I got the friendly one finger wave as she blew by me. About a mile up the road there was another light, and she was stopped behind some cars at that one. I needed to turn right at that light, so I don't know what she did as that light turned green, but she was cray-cray.
A few weeks ago, I was driving on a 2 lane road with a 35 mph speed limit, and I was going about 40-42. I had some middle aged woman about 2 inches from my bumper this whole time. The stop light onto a 4 lane road was red and I wanted to turn left, so I signaled and stopped. She also was turning left. The left turn lane was left turn on green arrow only, so I could not turn, since I had the red arrow. She proceeded to lay on her horn and flash her head lights on and off at me while I was waiting for the light to change (and traffic was zipping by on the cross street, so even if I had wanted to run the red arrow light, I could not have, as I would have gotten slammed from both directions). Once the light changed, I turned, and I got the friendly one finger wave as she blew by me. About a mile up the road there was another light, and she was stopped behind some cars at that one. I needed to turn right at that light, so I don't know what she did as that light turned green, but she was cray-cray.
People like this are crazy.
Have you read about the recent road rage incident in which a man was shot to death?
This makes me crazy. I frequently seem to end up directly behind someone who is doing fine until they go to pass a semi, and then they chicken out and ride in the driver's blind spot right where the trailer hooks to the cab. So I am stuck behind them, also in the blind spot and right next to the first set of trailer wheels, terrified I'm going to be road pizza. To make matters worse the guy behind me starts creeping up on me trying to make me go faster. Hello, I drive a tiny two-seat convertible! Can you not see the car in front of me? Argh!
An average semi trailer is about 53 feet long, if I recall correctly. If he is next to the fifth-wheel coupling, and you are next to the trailer's wheels, your following distance is obviously less than the length of his trailer. According to the two-second rule, 53 feet is an appropriate minimum following distance for approximately 18 miles per hour (53 feet divided by 2 seconds = 26.5 feet per second = 18.0682 miles per hour).
In other words, stop tailgating the guy ahead of you and you won't have to worry about getting stuck in the truck's blind spot. If another driver is tailgating you, just take your foot off the gas and slow down, so you're not right beside the truck. You're not going to be able to pass until the other guy moves, anyway, so what do you think you're gaining by being so close to the guy ahead of you? Ease off the throttle a bit and drop back, then you won't have to worry about becoming "road pizza."
Last edited by CoastalMaineiac; 09-07-2014 at 06:20 PM..
Reason: Edited for clarity
An average semi trailer is about 53 feet long, if I recall correctly. If he is next to the fifth-wheel coupling, and you are next to the trailer's wheels, your following distance is obviously less than the length of his trailer. According to the two-second rule, 53 feet is an appropriate minimum following distance for approximately 18 miles per hour (53 feet divided by 2 seconds = 26.5 feet per second = 18.0682 miles per hour).
In other words, stop tailgating the guy ahead of you and you won't have to worry about getting stuck in the truck's blind spot. If another driver is tailgating you, just take your foot off the gas and slow down enough to get behind the truck. You're not going to be able to pass until the other guy moves, anyway, so what do you think you're gaining by being so close to the guy ahead of you? Ease off the throttle a bit and drop back, then you won't have to worry about becoming "road pizza."
He can do that without getting behind the truck. He shouldn't have to change lanes. Just drop back a bit and wait for the other car to get ahead of the truck.
He can do that without getting behind the truck. He shouldn't have to change lanes. Just drop back a bit and wait for the other car to get ahead of the truck.
Sorry, I didn't make the best choice in words. I meant "behind" in a more general sense, not as in "directly behind."
I was traveling a little bit faster then the flow of traffic in the number two lane. I approaching another vehicle in the number two lane and had just passed a car in the number one lane. IF the car I had just passed had maintained his same speed, I would have been passed him when I made my lane change into the number one lane. But he choose to speed up. I did not actually look into the lane, until I had started the land change.
My rear tire of my truck, hit and went over the top of his hood. His vehicle was pushed into the center divide and then skidded to a stop along the slow lane of the freeway, (lane 4) Nobody was injured in that vehicle.
My truck, flipped end over end, during the first roll, I was ejected onto the freeway. My truck rolled several move times, side over side, and came to a rest in the number two lane.
As I came out of a backwards somersault and sat up in the number two lane, facing my truck, I could see the under carriage of my truck and the wheels were still spinning.
I remember looking down at my legs and thinking, "OMG, my legs are Fu@@ed up" I don't remember seeing any blood, but clearly they were bleeding as when I got out of the hospital and got my truck and property back, there was blood splatter all over things like my check book and such.
I had bad lacerations, severed my tendons in my ankle, road rash all over.
The things ya remember, it took 8 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and 5 minutes to get me to the trauma center.
Before surgery, the main surgeon told me I was very lucky. I told him if I was so lucky, I would not have been in the accident.
He told me that 13% of people who are ejected from a motor vehicle live to tell about it.
The accident was legally my fault, as I made an unsafe lane change.
But if that guy had maintained his same speed, rather then speed up, everything would have been fine.
I was traveling a little bit faster then the flow of traffic in the number two lane. I approaching another vehicle in the number two lane and had just passed a car in the number one lane. IF the car I had just passed had maintained his same speed, I would have been passed him when I made my lane change into the number one lane. But he choose to speed up. I did not actually look into the lane, until I had started the land change.
My rear tire of my truck, hit and went over the top of his hood. His vehicle was pushed into the center divide and then skidded to a stop along the slow lane of the freeway, (lane 4) Nobody was injured in that vehicle.
My truck, flipped end over end, during the first roll, I was ejected onto the freeway. My truck rolled several move times, side over side, and came to a rest in the number two lane.
As I came out of a backwards somersault and sat up in the number two lane, facing my truck, I could see the under carriage of my truck and the wheels were still spinning.
I remember looking down at my legs and thinking, "OMG, my legs are Fu@@ed up" I don't remember seeing any blood, but clearly they were bleeding as when I got out of the hospital and got my truck and property back, there was blood splatter all over things like my check book and such.
I had bad lacerations, severed my tendons in my ankle, road rash all over.
The things ya remember, it took 8 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and 5 minutes to get me to the trauma center.
Before surgery, the main surgeon told me I was very lucky. I told him if I was so lucky, I would not have been in the accident.
He told me that 13% of people who are ejected from a motor vehicle live to tell about it.
The accident was legally my fault, as I made an unsafe lane change.
But if that guy had maintained his same speed, rather then speed up, everything would have been fine.
Were you wearing a seatbelt when you were ejected from your vehicle?
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